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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26455780">Story Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdk/pseuds/justdk'>justdk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barns Lockdown [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dreamer Trilogy - Maggie Stiefvater, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic, Family Feels, Fluff, M/M, Storytelling, lockdown - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:07:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,061</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26455780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdk/pseuds/justdk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the new traditions at the Barns is nightly storytelling. Tonight is Matthew's turn and Adam's feeling feels about his new found family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barns Lockdown [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Story Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the start of a series of short stories set at the Barns during lockdown! Each new chapter will cover a different domestic facet of life shared by Adam and the Lynch brothers.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
<p></p><div class=""><p>“Alright, guys,” Matthew says, his voice loud and excited, his mouth pulled into an enormous smile. “I hope you’re ready because tonight you’re going to experience the most epic story time EVER!”</p></div><div class=""><p>Adam is snuggled under Ronan’s arm, the two of them pressed together on one end of the couch while Declan lounges on the other end, his long legs sprawled across the middle cushion. Declan’s wearing pajama pants and a faded Aglionby T-shirt, and the casual look never ceases to mess Adam’s perception of Ronan’s older brother. Ronan’s in sweatpants, no shirt, and Adam’s wearing soft sleep shorts and one of Ronan’s muscle tees because Ronan likes seeing and touching as much of his skin as is appropriate in the company of his brothers.</p></div><div class=""><p>Matthew, the storyteller of the evening, is wearing some sort of costume. Adam doesn’t know what it’s from but it’s an off-white animal suit, maybe a wolf? There are pointy ears and a tail. Adam’s never seen the outfit before today and thinks it must be relevant to tonight’s story. Last night was Ronan’s turn and he told a rambling Irish folktale that was so eerie and vivid that Adam could have sworn he saw the creature Ronan described slumping through the fields at dusk. And maybe he did. With Ronan one could never tell.</p></div></div><div class="">
  <p>“I think I know what story you’re going to tell,” Declan says with a sly smile. “Is it, by any chance—”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE!” Ronan and Matthew yell at the same time. They’re so loud that Chainsaw startles, squawking loudly and flapping around the living room until Ronan calls to her and calms her down. Opal, who has been lurking out in the hall munching on forbidden snacks, peers in. Adam catches her eye and beckons her over. She glares at Chainsaw who is perched on the back of the couch over his head but clatters over, throwing herself at Adam’s feet with an aggravated grunt.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Now that they’re all settled Matthew pulls out the book from behind his back. Adam is unsurprised to discover it’s a picture book. Matthew has been going strong with the picture book theme for months and Adam’s strangely grateful since he’s unfamiliar with most of them.  Matthew stands in front of the couch and begins a dramatic reading of the story of Max and the Wild Things. The story is apparently a Lynch brother favorite because at times they shout the lines together. Adam’s sure he’s never heard the story before, not even during his early years in public school. Those stories were nursery rhymes or ones with clear lessons and morals, like the Berenstain Bear books, or educational ones like the Magic School Bus. This story, with its wild child main character and its island of wild things, seems like it was written specifically for wonderfully unruly children like Ronan and Matthew. (Adam can’t conceive of Declan ever being truly wild like his brothers).</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The story ends on a happy note with all wrongs forgiven and a little boy safe and secure with his family. Adam sighs, his heart a tangle of emotions, and Ronan hugs him close, giving him a brief kiss on the top of his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“The end,” Matthew says, bowing to their loud cheers and clapping. “Tomorrow night is Adam’s turn,” he adds.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam smiles. He’s been reading chapters of <em>Good Omens</em> since they all watched the show together during their first month in lockdown. They’ve watched it two more times since then. Ronan likes schooling Adam on the religious references, which Adam puts up with because Sunday school Ronan is earnestly endearing. They’ve formed an unintentional Neil Gaiman book club/movie nights since then, slowly working their way through <em>Coraline</em> and <em>Stardust</em> and <em>American Gods</em> (though Ronan insisted Matthew cover his ears for some bits and refuses to let him watch the show with them). Adam has plans to read <em>The Graveyard Book</em> next; it seems like the perfect October story.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Unlike Adam, the Brothers Lynch were raised on stories and delight in hearing and telling them. Ronan can’t stick to a single book and instead reads long poems or spins folktales and legends. Declan, to everyone’s surprise, picked <em>Circe</em> for his first book and he’s been threatening them with <em>The Song of Achilles</em> which Adam has already read and is not sure he can withstand a repeat, especially not right now.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>All in all it’s been incredibly healing, these months together. And it’s far too easy, in the Barns bubble, to forget the rest of the world and get lost in their stories and in each other. It’s easy to forget that he’s ever lived anywhere else. It’s easy to forget that, though the Lynch brothers are orphans, they still have each other, and that Adam, with two living parents, has no real family.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Except that’s not really true anymore. It changed as soon as he and Ronan found their way to each other. It changed when they – through actions more than words – began to cherish each other. It changed when Adam all but moved in after Aglionby. And these months together, with nowhere to go and no one to see, they’ve cemented Adam’s place at Ronan’s side. He and Ronan have felt like sure thing for a long while but it’s the easy camaraderie he now feels with Declan and Matthew that really makes him feel at home and a part of the family. And while Adam doesn’t think he’ll ever be as reckless and desperate as he was when he went off on his own and sacrificed himself to Cabeswater, he knows that if he ever does mess up that badly – if he runs away and joins the wild things – that his new family will still take him back and welcome him home.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam leans into Ronan, pressing his face into the side of Ronan’s neck, inhaling the scent of his skin. He listens to Matthew and Declan talk, feels Opal fidgeting where she sits at his feet, twitches when Chainsaw tugs at a lock of his hair and pulls it into place (his hair is comically long now). Ronan’s steadying breaths and the rhythmic caress of his fingers up and down Adam’s bare arm lull him. Right now, in this moment, he doesn’t have to worry about a thing. Right now he’s home.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>you can find me on tumblr @dkafterdark</p></blockquote></div></div>
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